23 June

[grraven2004]

Erik,

I am an unemployed truck driver. Just tell me where to pick up the manuals and I will drive straight through to your warehouse!!!! All I ask is food and a free copy of da game! [:D][:)][:D][:)]

[Terminus]

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

ORIGINAL: Terminus

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve





Not yet, nor is the War in the Pacific group associated with the game. Come to think of it T , your not in there either! [:D]

Am too!

Really? Under your real name or an alias? I couldn't find you. Maybe I mis-spelled something.[&:]

Possibly...

[AttuWatcher]

ORIGINAL: rroberson
seems like to me if you are requiring Vanilla (70 dollars) and AE (Erik has now stated could be as much as 70 dollars) thats a lot of dollars for the new guy who is showing up in the forums ...tomorrow...to spend to play the game.

That's me!
An outsider view on this: WitP/AE really has the market cornered as far as I can see. The only other alternative for grand strategy is HoI series but I can't stand the realtime/start/stop game model. TBS or nothing! Domnate a niche of a niche in the game market, charge a nice round figure, and make the latest game require the previous engine it was built on. This is how Matrix makes their money. Quality, not quantity. Smarter, not harder.

[Tophat1815]

ORIGINAL: rogueusmc

'sides, he's from Vermont...anyone know anyone evil who came from Vermont?[:D]

Actually Yes.[:'(]

[Tophat1815]

ORIGINAL: FAsea

ORIGINAL: rroberson
seems like to me if you are requiring Vanilla (70 dollars) and AE (Erik has now stated could be as much as 70 dollars) thats a lot of dollars for the new guy who is showing up in the forums ...tomorrow...to spend to play the game.

Buy WiTp today..............start playing now.

In a month(when AE is hopefully out)upgrade to AE.

If you start now you might just get yourself on track.

This is your hobby right? Just tell yourself its going to cost me $200.00 for about oh 5 yrs give ot take of playing time. When you add the Witp $ and AE then find its under $200.00 you can then be happy you saved money.

Don't listen to anyone who gives you that: Its a mighty steep price for a new guy garbage. These games will keep you entertained,frustrated,addicted,overjoyed and depressed for years!

[DrewMatrix]

Based on the date I joined this forum I have been playing WITP for about 5 years. And I expect to play AE for that long as well. I have bought a lot of other games that have given me a lot fewer hours of play.
 
The cost is very reasonable, particularly compared to my other hobbies, some of whose costs are only semi-reasonable [;)]

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: rogueusmc

'sides, he's from Vermont...anyone know anyone evil who came from Vermont?[:D]

Yeah, my wife's from Vermont. And she must be evil.....she's a lawyer!!!![:D]

[Barneyrubb90]

Thanks for the latest info. Thanks for the manual. Thanks for the efforts in getting the game out right. Thanks for being patient with us.

"A happy sailor is a bitching sailor" We must all be happy.

I am confident we will be even more so soon.[:)]

[rroberson]

ORIGINAL: Tophat1812

ORIGINAL: FAsea

ORIGINAL: rroberson
seems like to me if you are requiring Vanilla (70 dollars) and AE (Erik has now stated could be as much as 70 dollars) thats a lot of dollars for the new guy who is showing up in the forums ...tomorrow...to spend to play the game.

Buy WiTp today..............start playing now.

In a month(when AE is hopefully out)upgrade to AE.

If you start now you might just get yourself on track.

This is your hobby right? Just tell yourself its going to cost me $200.00 for about oh 5 yrs give ot take of playing time. When you add the Witp $ and AE then find its under $200.00 you can then be happy you saved money.

Don't listen to anyone who gives you that: Its a mighty steep price for a new guy garbage. These games will keep you entertained,frustrated,addicted,overjoyed and depressed for years!

Hobby or not. Two bills is a lot of money to support a habit. A lot of gamers have wives and kids to support. Requiring the first game 70 dollars to play the second game (somewhere under 70 dollars) will assure quite a few people don't pick up one or both. I know for a fact a lot of my war gaming buddies from the combat mission series avoided WITP because of sticker shock.

[AttuWatcher]

I can attest to the sticker shock. I've known about WitP since 4 years ago but never took the plunge. But as outlined in my post above, I don't currently see any alternatives that can compete. Combined with my growing interest (and patience!) for large scale strategy has made me come back for a second look.

[stuman]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: jmscho
Can anyone at Matrix keep the queue happy, while we wait for the team to finish their work?

Please, PLEASE read my replies above.

So, do you want me to read your responses above BEFORE I ask my question about the release date ? I am unclear.

[stuman]

ORIGINAL: Crimguy

I got a card and a car charger for my iphone. Kinda sucks.

ORIGINAL: Graycompany

I kinda did to. I got ripped off for Fathers day, I told the family that is what I wanted, and so all I got was a card and a steak dinner[:(]

Yep, I got to take everyone out to eat . But at least they still want to hang out with me sometimes. I guess that's something.

And I did take my two oldest to then go see my Dad, who is alive, kicking, and drinking at age 80.

[Crimguy]

Sticker shock - I probably spend more on video games than anyone I know. I'm Mr. Impulse Purchase. This year alone I've purchased 2-3 titles already, with AE and MWiF in my queue.

But . . . I too balk at prices I deem "too high." One of the greatest games/sims I've ever played was Steel Beasts. SB2 has been out for a couple years, but at $125 I'll probably never buy it. If I were coming into the WitP fold, I would simply walk away from the prospect of spending $140 on the game.

And that's what it would be. Regardless of the differences between the two products, no one is going to see it that way. It'll appear to most that Matrix is selling the equivilent of Crown of Glory and Crown of Glory: Emperor's Edition at the same time, at the same price. Who the hell would buy the first title, and who would buy both?

[byron13]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

printing was done in China (sorry, but printing a 330 page full color manual in the US was simply beyond our budget, we do print all our grayscale manuals in the US though).

Regards,

- Erik

You know, that just ain't right. I'm not questioning the decision on a "Buy American" basis, and I don't doubt it was the cheapest option. After all, America is supposed to be the home of free markets and the better mousetrap. What ain't right is America has some real issues if, with all the Apple computers and whiz-bang stuff we're supposed to have, the entrepreneurs and home-based businesses, etc., we can't print a manual for less than it costs to ship it from China. I bought a tin of mints the other day about the size of, say, a match box. The mints were made in the U.S., but the tin box was made in China. Now how it is possible that some guy that used to stamp car parts in Alabama or Oklahoma (but doesn't anymore because Americans don't seem to be able to make cars anymore either - at least not American cars) can't stamp out a bunch of tin flippin' boxes for less than it costs to ship across the whole danged Pacific? Things'll change, I know. I am old enough to remember when Made in Japan meant inexpensive; then it was Made In Korea. When the Chinese get rich, it'll be Made in Indonesia or Nigeria. But it still bugs the bejesus out of me that this stuff with virtually no value added in production and virtually no human labor is still cheaper to import than to get domestically. But I guess every printer has to make his BMW payments . . .

Sorry for the rant.

[byron13]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Look, I posted just a couple of weeks ago saying we were probably looking at a July release based on the timeline of the printed manuals. For the last two months there has been constant AAR activity from the test team here as well as about a quarter of the manual being posted as a free preview. This to you constitutes "zero to no buzz"? Wow.

I also gave a very narrow ballpark for the price (less than WITP but not by much). I also said that delays at this point would be weeks or days, not months.

When we're prepared to post a release date and final pricing, we will. All I will say now is that a July release is the date we are aiming for and we are currently working with the AE team on a release candidate. The manuals are on the boat and depending on when they arrive in our warehouses (which we'll know more about as time goes on) will allow us to know when the release date will be exactly (yes, we don't know for certain yet either).

The only way that we would miss July is if Customs decided for some reason to sit on the manuals for a few weeks. Nothing in the actual game development/release candidate/gold master process looks like it is going to need more time than that.

Oh and for the record, there are no "corporate types" at Matrix, at least in the way people usually intend that particular phrase to be taken as something other than a compliment. We are all wargamers and heavily engaged in the games we publish.

Regards,

- Erik

<grins at Erik's apparent naivete>

Erik, Erik. You've got it all wrong. Give us more credit. We're just . . . . negotiating. Kinda like the Iranians and the North Koreans. We whine enough and you give us something. Now, I shouldn't be giving our secrets away, but here's how it works:

Tomorrow someone designated by the collective will start a thread questioning whether the game really exists. Others that understand the process jump in with similar concerns and rumors of rumors (for the Commonwealth folk: rumours of rumours). Then somebody says, "If we could see the rest of the manual posted, THEN I would believe it isn't vaporware!" And to shut everyone up, Erik posts the rest of the manual. Simple.

Now it doesn't have to work this way. We can do the whole pointless build-up as called for in the script, or we can just cut to the chase and you can post the entire manual. But, of course, you can't give us everything we've asked for, so you'll agree to meet us halfway and post another, say, quarter of the manual. And with the July 4th weekend coming up (that is a worldwide holiday, isn't it?) you'll be a hero posting it beforehand so we'll have an excuse to not go to the in-laws' bbq.

It's inevitable. Don't fight it. Just post it. And don't take us too seriously.

And for the English: you can have us back if you'll agree to take on our national debt. I'm ready to be a member of the Commonwealth; it sounds so . . . friendly. Being the Great Satan is getting old. But only if we can keep football. Real football. You know: American football. And you agree to call the other game soccer.

[Flying Tiger]

ORIGINAL: FAsea

ORIGINAL: rroberson
seems like to me if you are requiring Vanilla (70 dollars) and AE (Erik has now stated could be as much as 70 dollars) thats a lot of dollars for the new guy who is showing up in the forums ...tomorrow...to spend to play the game.

That's me!
An outsider view on this: WitP/AE really has the market cornered as far as I can see. The only other alternative for grand strategy is HoI series but I can't stand the realtime/start/stop game model. TBS or nothing! Domnate a niche of a niche in the game market, charge a nice round figure, and make the latest game require the previous engine it was built on. This is how Matrix makes their money. Quality, not quantity. Smarter, not harder.

but....the question still remains..... WILL YOU pay up to $140 bucks for the game?? Even $100 for a package deal? We can all say "yes it is worth it", but you are the guy who needs to stick his hand in his pocket. And 140 bucks.... thats a rather deep pocket!

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: Flying Tiger

ORIGINAL: FAsea

ORIGINAL: rroberson
seems like to me if you are requiring Vanilla (70 dollars) and AE (Erik has now stated could be as much as 70 dollars) thats a lot of dollars for the new guy who is showing up in the forums ...tomorrow...to spend to play the game.

That's me!
An outsider view on this: WitP/AE really has the market cornered as far as I can see. The only other alternative for grand strategy is HoI series but I can't stand the realtime/start/stop game model. TBS or nothing! Domnate a niche of a niche in the game market, charge a nice round figure, and make the latest game require the previous engine it was built on. This is how Matrix makes their money. Quality, not quantity. Smarter, not harder.

but....the question still remains..... WILL YOU pay up to $140 bucks for the game?? Even $100 for a package deal? We can all say "yes it is worth it", but you are the guy who needs to stick his hand in his pocket. And 140 bucks.... thats a rather deep pocket!

My credit card is ready....just waiting for the announcement. [:)]

[AttuWatcher]

&nbsp;Sure, I can fork out the $ but at these prices I'll need to weigh my options thoroughly. $100 package deal would be good. Manuals made in China though... [:-]

[Przemcio231]

And for the English: you can have us back if you'll agree to take on our national debt. I'm ready to be a member of the Commonwealth; it sounds so . . . friendly. Being the Great Satan is getting old. But only if we can keep football. Real football. You know: American football. And you agree to call the other game soccer.

Well that would be hard[:D] You would automaticly be a part of the EU as well[:D][:D] Great Satan i like this[:D][:D][:D] The one who invented this had to be a retard [:D]... But well what should you expect from Iranians[:D][:D] Ohhh about Football sorry but our is reall and i just wounder why do you call it American Football becouse as far as i know players seldom kick their ball... this game is more like a rugby me thinks[:D]

[Sardaukar]

It's just rugby with protective gear...[:D]

On the other hand, some complaints about Football (soccer) can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvUIbqKyppY&NR=1

[:D]